History Main / SequelItis

* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' is widely seen as one of the best ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' stories in history. ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' is at best polarizing, mostly due to the {{O|utOfCharacter}}OC of non-Batman characters, some serious {{Author Tract}}s, and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodLineArt shockingly bad color work]]. Its prequel, the clunkily-titled ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', is generally regarded as SoBadItsGood. Its sequel ''ComicBook/DarkKnightIIITheMasterRace'' was [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel well-received]] due to it primarily written by Creator/BrianAzzarello than Creator/FrankMiller himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', despite being a minor bomb critically and financially, got four sequels. Being made with [[NoBudget fairly low budgets]] and based on films that weren't very good to begin with, they were very poorly received.

In other words, {{Sequel}}s to works, generally created on the impetus of box office revenue, are rarely as good as the work they're a sequel to. If there's a third installment, it will frequently mark a sharp downhill turn even when the second work turned out all right. And even if there's a good trilogy, going beyond ''that'' has an even greater chance of crapitude.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' is beloved by readers of both ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' and ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'' for the unique way everything happened and giving both video game stars a chance to meet long before ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' could. Its sequel, ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' isn't as beloved, due to [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters too many characters]] (seriously, not counting the main four of ''Sonic'', ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'', ''Mega Man'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', there are ''twelve franchises'' represented here), wasting the Mega Man X characters, reducing Sonic Boom to just Sticks, and so on. It ended up causing the deaths of all the series involved.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', also by Miller, is considered to be the definitive Batman origin story. By contrast, most people are barely aware that there ever was a ''Year Two'', considered SoOkayItsAverage at best. It really only comes up in discussions of how it inspired the much better-regarded ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm''. ''Year Three'' is so obscure that wasn't even been collected until 2019, and is only remembered for containing the first appearance of [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]], the third ComicBook/{{Robin}}.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', also by Miller, is considered to be the definitive Batman origin story. By contrast, most people are barely aware that there ever was a ''Year Two'', considered SoOkayItsAverage at best. It really only comes up in discussions of how it inspired the much better-regarded ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm''. ''Year Three'' is so obscure that it's never even been collected.

* Creator/JohnOsborne's ''Film/LookBackInAnger'' was a groundbreaking work that revitalised British theatre and gave a voice to the working class. Nearly thirty years later, Osborne wrote a sequel ''Déjàvu'' which sees the protagonist Jimmy Porter in middle-age. It closed after just seven weeks and was harshly reviewed, with critics calling it a series of monologues in place of a play. It would ultimately be the last play Osborne ever wrote.

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-->They're not very good at naming Popes. They had a run of Piuses, it was like Hollywood: '''Pope Pius I'''; '''Pope Pius II'''; '''Pope Pius III''' - ''[[RevengeOfTheSequel The Revenge Of The Pius People]]''; '''Pope Pius IV''' - ''[[ItsPersonal This Time He's Pissed Off!]]''; '''Pope Pius V''' - ''In 3D!''

* Even more than the film examples, ''Franchise/StarTrek'' suffered this in its series. ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'' was considered an uneven novelty, a series that was either teeth-grating crap or the very pinnacle of science-fiction, depending on the given episode. ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' has been formally recognized as being among the top 100 shows ever made and a crowning achievement of television. Paramount came down with Sequelitis, commissioning '''three''' follow-up series (''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'', and even a prequel in ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''). The critical reception deteriorated with each successive series, along with the ratings (though a few preferred ''[=DS9=]'' in later years). The last one made it to four seasons, the fourth one only made so that the series could be syndicated, and not end up a total failure. Although the jury is still out on ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' (set between ''Enterprise'' and ''The Original Series''), the general fan consensus seems to be that it's a good show in its own right, but the DarkerAndEdgier serial plotline and somewhat forced "mature" tone are a poor fit for ''Trek''. ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', a sequel to ''The Next Generation'' (including the movies... and [[Film/StarTrek2009 the film that started the Kelvin Timeline]]) is also a divisive affair due to its DarkerAndEdiger approach.

* The first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' has a respectable Rotten Tomatoes score of 77%. The [[WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown first sequel]] got a rotten 57% (though it has since become a CultClassic), and it just went down from there (46%, 38%, and 16%; the last of these, ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAgeCollisionCourse Collision Course]]'', is considered one of the worst films of 2016 and is the first ''Ice Age'' movie to get WebVideo/AniMat's "Seal of Garbage", and [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed in the domestic box office]] in the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster). Although once Disney shut down Creator/BlueSkyStudios and made ''Westernanimation/TheIceAgeAdventuresOfBuckWild'' for Disney+, it was widely considered a new lower point - the only thing better than ''Collision Course'' was its Tomatometer, a still dismal 22% (and based on a much smaller pool of 32 reviews compared to over a hundred from the fifth film), as viewers couldn't get behind the low production values and shoddy animation, the absence of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Scrat]], Creator/SimonPegg being the only returning cast member, and a very weak script (for starters, Buck is on the title but [[SpotlightStealingSquad most of the focus is on]] [[TheScrappy the much less popular duo Crash and Eddie], which is a big reason why [=AniMat=] gave it an even worse review than ''Collision Course'').

* The first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' has a respectable Rotten Tomatoes score of 77%. The [[WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown first sequel]] got a rotten 57% (though it has since become a CultClassic), and it just went down from there (46%, 38%, and 16%; the last of these, ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAgeCollisionCourse Collision Course]]'', is considered one of the worst films of 2016 and is the first ''Ice Age'' movie to get WebVideo/AniMat's "Seal of Garbage", and [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed in the domestic box office]] in the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster).

* Even more than the film examples, ''Franchise/StarTrek'' suffered this in its series. ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]'' was considered an uneven novelty, a series that was either teeth-grating crap or the very pinnacle of science-fiction, depending on the given episode. ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' has been formally recognized as being among the top 100 shows ever made and a crowning achievement of television. Paramount came down with Sequelitis, commissioning '''three''' follow-up series (''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'', and even a prequel in ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''). The critical reception deteriorated with each successive series, along with the ratings (though a few preferred ''[=DS9=]'' in later years). The last one made it to four seasons, the fourth one only made so that the series could be syndicated, and not end up a total failure. Although the jury is still out on ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' (set between ''Enterprise'' and ''The Original Series''), the general fan consensus seems to be that it's a good show in its own right, but the DarkerAndEdgier serial plotline and somewhat forced "mature" tone are a poor fit for ''Trek''.

* The first Woodstock Festival in 1969 is often considered one of the best music festivals ever. For the 25th anniversary, music promoters tried to recreate the experience with the mostly-uneventful but not as memorable Woodstock '94. For the 30th anniversary, promoters held Woodstock '99, which featured many top-tier performers but was poorly received -- tickets cost much more than other festivals (the first Woodstock was free), attendees were price gouged for amenities like water and food, and organizers seemed unprepared for an event that size, with massive amounts of garbage piling up and portable restrooms frequently overflowing. The final day was marred by riots -- most media outlets covering the event abruptly pulled out their crews -- and dozens of reports of sexual assault, effectively ending the concert series.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' is this to [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998 the original]]. Fans of the original show dislike the newer villains (except Silico and some [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-shot characters]]) for lacking the quality of the original show while pushing most of them out of the spotlight, the {{Flanderization}} of the girls and [[TheOtherDarrin their voice change]], the wonky animation, and weak plots among other reasons. Unlike ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' above, this show doesn't have the benefit of being a follow-up; it's a direct continuation.

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[[caption-width-right:340:[[Film/TheSantaClause 'Snow time for a sequel!]]]]

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' received a huge dive in critical reception and audience feedback, compared to ''Series/TheMandalorian''. Viewers found the narrative structure confusing and slow-paced, Boba Fett's motivations unclear, and the set pieces clumsily-executed. The RequiredSpinoffCrossover with ''The Mandalorian'' temporarily boosted reception, but also derailed the main plot of ''Boba Fett'' to set up ''The Mandalorian'' Season 3, including a hasty reversal of a major change the Season 2 finale made to Mando's status quo.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1627940822041178800 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

* The ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' fandom was [[ContestedSequel divided]] on the subject of ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'' from its announcement. As the series progressed, barring rief moments of hope, fan outlook grew increasingly bleak, with the ending (and even a few of the plot threads) provoking cries of FanonDiscontinuity. It hardly helped that it contradicted many of the themes of the original series, particularly [[spoiler:the ability of humans and Coralians to coexist]]. That last one was enough to spark the "[[BigBad Dewey]] [[TheExtremistWasRight was right!]]" fandom meme.

* ''ComicBook/TheNail'' is one of the more beloved {{Elseworld}} stories, with its dark storytelling and interesting showcasing of a world without Franchise/{{Superman}} and how needed TheCape really is to the DCU. You'll find much fewer fans of ''Another Nail'', which featured a far more convoluted and silly plot without any real hook to draw it together.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' is widely seen as one of the best ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' stories in history. ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' is at best polarizing, mostly due to the {{O|utOfCharacter}}OC of non-Batman characters, some serious {{Author Tract}}s, and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodLineArt shockingly bad color work]]. Its prequel, the clunkily-titled ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', is generally regarded as SoBadItsGood. Its sequel ''ComicBook/DarkKnightIIITheMasterRace'' was [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel well-received]] due to it primarily written by Creator/BrianAzzarello than Creator/FrankMiller himself.

* ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' is a controversial event thanks to some some ''very'' inconsistent political strawmanning, but it's somewhat VindicatedByHistory because it gave the Marvel Universe ''itself'' something of a story arc, with ''Civil War'' kicking off a saga that led into the darker ''Secret Invasion'' and ''Dark Reign'', followed by a triumphant return in ''Siege'' and ''The Heroic Age''. That and it didn't actually derail many books for long, and some of the tie-ins and consequences from the run are very well-liked, such as the death of Captain America. ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'', on the other hand... it's ''never'' talked about fondly. It made everyone unlikeable, was setup for ''more'' ill-received stories such as Riri Williams' turn as Iron Man, Amadeus Cho's turn as the Hulk and ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'', and was so bad that it's considered directly responsible for a ''huge'' DorkAge that took two years to end.

* Almost all of the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' DTV movies. The first four movies (''Tom and Jerry and the Magic Ring'', ''Blast Off to Mars'', ''The Fast and the Furry'', and ''Shiver Me Whiskers'') are considered good though not exceptional, and the fifth (''A Nutcracker Tale'') is... polarizing. The rest are despised, mocked within an inch of their lives, or both. Each successive movie consists of any PublicDomainCharacter or movie within the writers' reach being given a {{shot for shot|Remake}} animated remake, occasionally interrupted by Tom and Jerry engaging in their usual antics to pad the runtime. ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryWillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' attracts particular vitriol, as not only are large portions of the script and blocking lifted wholesale from [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory the original movie]], there were accusations that it was rushed through production--or worse, only exists--to capitalize on Creator/GeneWilder's death.[[note]]It was actually made in a bid to extend Warner Bros.'s film license for ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory''. Didn't work--the movie was such a critical and commercial flop that the Creator/RoaldDahl estate yanked the rights away from them.[[/note]]

* Music/JayZ: ''The Blueprint'' is widely considered a classic album, among Jay-Z's best, contributed the term "renegaded" to hip-hop lexicon(referring to Eminem's [[OneSongWonder guest appearance]] on "Renegade"), and helped jump-start Music/KanyeWest's career. ''Blueprint 2'' was considered to suffer from too many filler songs, and while ''Blueprint 3'' was a major hit, it had a less positive critical reception.

* An InUniverse example forms the basis of the Toys/{{LEGO}} stop-motion short ''Zombie: Exodus''. Despite the scandals of [[FatalMethodActing the former lead actor getting killed on set]] and a PrimaDonnaDirector forgoing CGI in favor of practical effects, ''Zombie: Genesis'' manages to win an Oscar. When the studio greenlights a sequel, the HostilityOnTheSet, protests by {{Zombie Advocate}}s, and said director refusing to cut 10 minutes off the film results in an empty red carpet premiere and savage reviews.

* '''Tis the Season to Be Smurfy'' is not as interesting as the previous [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs Smurfs]] specials. It feels more like an episode of the show and is considered weak due to its light-hearted comedic plot told through [[RandomEventsPlot a handful of random events]], lack of darker elements, little to no conflict, and a generic thief/villain who doesn't pursue the Smurfs or is unaware of their existence. Though it does have some heartwarming moments and a moral that "it's better to give than to receive", it isn't enough to save this special.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' isn't a direct sequel to ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' per se, but being a follow-up series, it still counts given its worse animation, concentration on goofy humor, and occasionally near-SadistShow levels of meanness from the main characters. The original was a blend of humor and weirdness with genuine plot and character moments.

* Being [[SamePlotSequel too similar to the previous work(s)]], to the point that it's just the same thing over again. Creators are not realizing that if we want sequels, we want the story to continue, not to be repeated. For the more general trope applying to recycled story arcs, see FleetingDemographicRule.

* The first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' has a respectable Rotten Tomatoes score of 77%. The [[WesternAnimation/IceAge2TheMeltdown first sequel]] got a rotten 57% (though it has since become a CultClassic), and it just went down from there (46%, 38%, and 16%; the last of these, ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAge5CollisionCourse Collision Course]]'', is considered one of the worst films of 2016 and is the first ''Ice Age'' movie to get WebVideo/AniMat's "Seal of Garbage", and [[BoxOfficeBomb bombed in the domestic box office]] in the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster).

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' is beloved by readers of both ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' and ''ComicBook/MegaMan'' for the unique way everything happened and giving both video game stars a chance to meet long before ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' could. Its sequel, ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' isn't as beloved, due to [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters too many characters]] (seriously, not counting the main four of ''Sonic'', ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'', ''Mega Man'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', there are ''twelve franchises'' represented here), wasting the Mega Man X characters, reducing Sonic Boom to just Sticks, and so on. It ended up causing the deaths of all the series involved.

* The ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' fandom was [[ContestedSequel divided]] on the subject of ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'' from its announcement. As the series progressed, barring [[WinTheCrowd brief moments of hope]], fan outlook grew increasingly bleak, with the ending (and even a few of the plot threads) provoking cries of FanonDiscontinuity. It hardly helped that it contradicted many of the themes of the original series, particularly [[spoiler:the ability of humans and Coralians to coexist]]. That last one was enough to spark the "[[BigBad Dewey]] [[TheExtremistWasRight was right!]]" fandom meme.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega'' got this treatment almost as much as the Land Before Time. As of 2018 there are eight sequels to the original! Similarly to the Land Before Time, the quality of the sequels are heavily debated by fans (though the FirstInstallmentWins) but outside of the fanbase the sequels all received scathing reception (and the first wasn’t a critical darling to begin with).

* ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega'' seems to be getting this treatment. As of 2018 there are eight sequels to the original! This is par for the course for Richard Rich films - ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', despite being a minor bomb critically and financially, got four sequels. Being made with [[NoBudget fairly low budgets]] and based on films that weren't very good to begin with, they tend to make the Creator/{{Disney}} cheapquels look like high art.

* This is why ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' doesn't do sequel series anymore after the poor reception of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5 Go Go!''. Many of them are realizing, though, that rival series ''Anime/{{Aikatsu}}'' is heading that way, what with a second sequel series coming up.

* The original work was thematically rich, but then the sequels were either too {{Anvilicious}} with topics that require tact and subtlety or only scraped the surface of subjects where SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

* ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' is a controversial event thanks to some some ''very'' inconsistent political strawmanning, but it's somewhat VindicatedByHistory because it gave the Marvel Universe ''itself'' something of a story arc, with ''Civil War'' kicking off a saga that led into the darker ''Secret Invasion'' and ''Dark Reign'', followed by a triumphant return in ''Siege'' and ''The Heroic Age''. That and it didn't actually derail many books for long, and some of the tie-ins and consequences from the run are very well-liked, such as the death of Captain America. ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'', on the other hand... it's ''never'' talked about fondly. It made everyone unlikeable, was setup for ''more'' inn-received stories such as Riri Williams' turn as Iron Man, Amadeus Cho's turn as the Hulk and ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'', and was so bad that it's considered directly responsible for a ''huge'' DorkAge that took two years to end.

* The reuse of some element that was felt to be important to the first work's success, in hopes that having [[UpToEleven even more of that element]] will make the sequel even better. If it works for the first sequel, it will be cranked up more and more in further sequels. This may lead to VulgarHumor, sadistic slapstick violence, or something else along those lines.

** ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' is seen by some of the ''Dragon Ball'' fanbase as a combination of this and FranchiseZombie due to being created entirely by Creator/ToeiAnimation, with very little input from Creator/AkiraToriyama beyond designs, which likely lead to it being [[Anime/DragonBallSuper retconned by the new series]].

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has, as of 2018, [[LongRunners a total of]] ''[[LongRunners twenty-one]]'' [[LongRunners movies made]]. Similar to ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', most fans say that the quality of the movies has been all over the place, with the first few movies (''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', ''Anime/{{Pokemon 2000}}'', ''Anime/{{Pokemon 3}}'') being superior to most of the sequels[[note]][[SubbingVersusDubbing especially in Japanese]] where none of the messages and plot points are mangled or bowdlerized[[/note]], barring a few standouts such as ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'' and ''Anime/PokemonKyuremVsTheSwordOfJustice''. However, three that have received notably negative reviews include ''[[Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened Genesect and the Legend Awakened]]'', ''[[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges Hoopa and the Clash of Ages]]'', and ''[[Anime/PokemonVolcanionAndTheMechanicalMarvel Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel]]'' -- the latter two of which did so poorly that the next films were set in a new continuity entirely, [[FranchiseKiller putting the main continuity of films on ice]].

* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' is widely seen as one of the best ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' stories in history. ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' is at best polarizing, mostly due to the {{OOC}} of non-Batman characters, some serious {{Author Tract}}s, and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodLineArt shockingly bad color work]]. Its prequel, the clunkily-titled ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', is generally regarded as SoBadItsGood. Its sequel ''ComicBook/DarkKnightIIITheMasterRace'' was [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel well-received]] due to it primarily written by Creator/BrianAzzarello than Creator/FrankMiller himself.

* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' had this happen twice, with two ShortRunner one-season spinoffs, ''Series/{{Ravenswood}}'' and ''Series/PrettyLittleLiarsThePerfectionists'', both way less regarded than the original.

* Not even roller coasters can escape this trope: [[Ride/CedarFair King’s Island]]’s Son of Beast, named after the acclaimed wooden coaster The Beast, was hyped up prior to opening, but increasingly criticized after. Unfortunately, the low quality wood used in construction resulted in unstableness, discomfort, declining ridership, and a near accident in 2006 that caused the removal of the loop, the ride’s most notable aspect. The Son was put down in 2009, but the good news is the original Beast is still up and running after [[LongRunner some 40 years]] as of 2021.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' is this to [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls the original]]. Fans of the original show dislike the newer villains (except Silico and some [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-shot characters]]) for lacking the quality of the original show while pushing most of them out of the spotlight, the {{Flanderization}} of the girls and [[TheOtherDarrin their voice change]], the wonky animation, and weak plots among other reasons. Unlike ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' above, this show doesn't have the benefit of being a follow-up; it's a direct continuation.